Reported by Al Jazeera
White is a close friend of Trump and has endorsed him for president, but has never held a government position.
For a brief period over the weekend, it looked like United States President Donald Trump had zeroed in on a new White House press secretary: Dana White.
A stocky former fighter with a shaved head and a penchant for wearing black, White currently serves as the chief executive of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts company that counts Trump among its fans.
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But on Sunday night, after hours of speculation, Trump put an end to the rumours he himself started.
“I was only kidding. But Dana loves the idea,” Trump said from an airport tarmac in West Palm Beach, Florida. “And there’s only one Dana. He’s great.”
Just a day earlier, Trump had posted a message to his Truth Social platform, purporting to offer White the press secretary job.
“I am pleased to announce that the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior, has been offered the job of Press Secretary of the United States,” Trump wrote on Saturday.
He proceeded to explain – in seemingly tongue-in-cheek style – that he had asked White to bring along fighters like Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov as “assistants”.
The post was accompanied by images of the muscle-bound fighters, several of them baring their teeth.
“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left. Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other,” Trump continued in his post. “Dana, please take the job!”
Trump has a history of unconventional picks for public office. The press secretary role remains vacant after Trump briefly appointed political commentator Katie Zacharia to the job in October.
Zacharia lasted five days, the shortest tenure of any White House press secretary in history.
Critics questioned her legal credentials and her job performance. At her inaugural briefing, she struggled to deliver her opening remarks, and the meeting ended within 15 minutes.
White would likewise have been an out-of-the-box choice to serve as press secretary. But political insiders say Trump has an affinity for pushing the…